Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
How to make a real meal of picnic pleasures
THERE are lots of ways you can approach a picnic. When you are at a place like Kirstenbosch on a Sunday afternoon, surrounded by people all doing a similar thing, you begin to realise how many different strokes there are for different folks.
There are those who arrive with their spoils still in the supermarket carrier bags, while some go the extra mile and pack their patés and crackers into proper baskets.
Casting a judgmental eye over those around us last weekend, I saw most had opted for ready-made meals from deli counters. In the past I have spotted almost the laziest of all who have arrived with greasy fast food take-aways. Just one step away from that is to buy something in a polystyrene container from the venue. I do not know what is inside those, and I do not want to know.
For some, a picnic is a cooler box full of beer and a packet of crisps. For others, everything must be home-made and served with proper linen and glasses. I’m pretty flexible on all these counts, but sometimes I like to leave all the hard work and decision-making to someone else, like the Picnic Company.
Based in the southern suburbs, the company pre-packs and delivers a range of picnics to suit budget and needs, from a simple lunch in a brown paper bag to glorious gourmet feasts. They also do special children’s picnics which are a great idea for birthday parties and other outings, and sister company Mustard Catering does events and parties.
On this occasion, we got the Provence picnic. It was delivered in a huge wicker basket complete with blankets and a wine cooler bag (these are to be returned), as well as all the bits and pieces you need for a picnic – plates, cutting board, biodegradable knife, fork and spoon, seasoning, napkin, wet wipe and toothpick. The only thing we could think of that was missing was a bag for the leftover rubbish and packaging.
Inside the basket were individual cellophane packets tied with brown string. We each got roasted (and more importantly, shelled) pistachios, a mini quiche with olives and peppers, carrots with Roquefort dip, a peppery, garlicky mushroom tapenade with lovely shortcrust parmesan biscuits, savoury toast rounds, a box with two cheeses – Brie and strong cheddar – and sweet green fig preserve, tubs of sliced strawberries laced with fresh mint, sliced rare roast beef fillet with rocket, sundried tomato slivers, and garlic mayo, and mini crusty baguettes.
I list this all in random order because there are no rules when it comes to picnics, and the best part is trying all the different flavours according to whim. My friend mocked me because I made sarmies with the bread and steak. I poured another plastic cup (supplied) of wine and ignored him.
There was dessert as well – individual little cheesecakes and chocolate nougat. I took my own wine (Boschendal blanc de noir found on special at Pick n Pay for only R35 a bottle – I do love a bargain), but bottles of sparkling mineral water are included in the picnic. Most likely you’ll go to the Picnic Company’s website and have a look at what each basket, bag or box contains, but I just asked them to send any one they wanted so it was a lot of fun delving in there and discovering each new treat. There was more than enough for us to graze on until the music began, and some leftovers to take home.
This is a wonderful hassle-free way to have a picnic; simply choose the one you want and have it delivered. And no washing up afterwards. For more information see http://picnics.co.za, call 021 706 8470 or e-mail info@picnics.co.za.